UK to announce sanctions on Israeli West Bank settlements

The UK is facing criticism from the US and Israel over plans for sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is expected to announce them when he sets out a "reset" of the UK's relations with Israel in a statement to parliament as part of a toughened stance under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Ministers have suggested goods coming out of the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian territory, could be subject to trade restrictions as part of the changes.

The prime minister discussed the Middle East with US President Donald Trump in a phone call yesterday ahead of the intervention, which risks drawing criticism from the United States.

A Downing Street readout said Mr Burnham had set out "the UK’s commitment to working towards peace and security in the region" and stressed the importance of the two-state solution, but made no mention of how the president responded.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.

The prospect of the move has already prompted suggestions of retaliation from US and Israeli figures.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claimed it was an "irrational action".

"I feel like it’s discrimination against the Israeli government. It’s a discrimination against the Jewish people," he told the BBC.

"I also would tell you that I don’t know if they have thought it through. It’s like throwing a stone and not having an idea of where it’s going to land.

"And I realise, look, the UK is a sovereign country; they can do what they want, but so is the US," Mr Huckabee said.

Israeli president Isaac Herzog said UK sanctions "would be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation" as the country prepares to go to the polls next month.

He also claimed such a step would harm Palestinians.

"If this happens - and other nations may join - I believe it will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history," he said.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar warned: "If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain."

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right public security minister, called on the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly recognise the Falkland Islands as "Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people".

"I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise Argentina’s sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues," he said on social media.

Meanwhile, Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the expulsion of the British Ambassador to Israel.

"Expel the British ambassador tonight!," he wrote on X.

"We will not be a doormat trampled by an antisemitic government, in a country conquered by radical Islam, trying to save itself from economic and social decline by attacking Jews and the State of Israel.

"The British Mandate in the Land of Israel is over," he added.

Cabinet minister Pat McFadden insisted the coming measures would be "specifically targeted".

"Israel is an important trading partner for the UK. This isn’t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods," he told Sky News.

Labour lost the support of many of its left-wing backers under former prime minister Keir Starmer over his initial response to Israel’s war on Gaza following Hamas’ 7 October attack in 2023.

Mr Burnham, who was among senior party figures to have called for a ceasefire by late October that year, previously suggested he would change the government’s approach to the conflict soon after coming to office in July.

He has voiced particular concerns about the E1 settlement, where Israel has given final approval for a controversial project that would effectively separate the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem.

UN Secretary General António Guterres has said the E1 plan posed an "existential threat" to a contiguous Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep establishing the settlements despite mounting international pressure, promising a major wave of immigration to the Palestinian territory.

Some of the violence by settlers in recent weeks had drawn rare condemnation from Mr Netanyahu and unusually strong criticism from Mr Huckabee, as well as more typical critics in European capitals.

Concerns have also been raised about the impact on the Jewish community in the UK.

Labour MP Peter Prinsley, the vice chairman of Labour Friends of Israel, meanwhile he had told the Mr Miliband he was concerned about the risks of such a move.

He told the BBC: "My fear is that opponents of Israel won’t distinguish between Israeli government policy, Zionistic political philosophy and British Jews.

"As far as they’re concerned, the whole thing’s the same, and I think it carries a real risk of increased chances of attacks on the British Jewish community."

More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory, among some three million Palestinians.

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank today, the Palestinian health ministry said, while the Israeli military said it killed a suspect who had attempted to attack troops.

The Palestinian health ministry announced the death of 28-year-old Abdul Karim Muhammad Khader Suleiman, who it said was "shot and killed by the occupation forces on Tuesday morning in the town of Aqraba".

It said his body was being withheld by Israeli authorities.

Additional reporting AFP